Roasted Vegetables with Tahini Sauce and Brown Rice

Here are the golden beets I promised, at last! I love beets of all colors, but these have the advantage of not turning your fingers red.

I used...

three golden beets

one head broccoli

two carrots

1/4 of a large onion

three garlic cloves

short grain brown rice

tahini sauce

and the beet greens!

Using a knife, peel off the offensive looking parts of the beet skin. These beets were organic, if you are using conventional, go ahead and peel them completely.

Cut up the beets and carrots into roughly uniform sizes and toss with some olive oil. I added some dry salsa spice mix, so add whatever herbs/spices you like.

Spread on a cookie sheet lined with parchment, if you have it, and put in a 400* oven to roast.

Cut the onion and broccoli into similar size pieces and toss with oil and herbs/spices.

After the beets and carrots have roasted for ten minutes or so, add the broccoli and onion to the mix.

Place back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so until it is all golden, caramelized, slightly charred- and delicious!

Now for the beet greens, my favorite!

Submerge the greens in water and wash them well to remove any grit. Spin dry.

Chop and toss with olive oil, a couple of cloves of garlic- pressed or minced- and a pinch of salt.

Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Roast at 400* until light and crispy. I know they don't look like much, but they are soooo good! Eat with your fingers, much better that potato chips!

For the tahini sauce...

1/4 cup water, plus more to taste

1 Tbsp light miso

1/3 cup tahini

1 clove garlic, pressed or minced

1 tsp grated orange zest

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Whisk together in a medium bowl, add water to thin.

Spoon the roasted vegetables on to a bed of brown rice and surround with crispy beet greens.

Top with the tahini sauce.

This works great with vegetables of any kind, just adjust the roasting time to suit.

The crispy greens can be any variety as well. Try kale or a crinkly spinach- yum!

The leftovers were not very photogenic.
But I did sell three pairs of earrings at the market yesterday.

Earrings from Milk Tops

Thought I'd shake things up and show you some of the new milk top earrings....

The in-law dinner party went well- will post some recipes later. I got a tad busy and didn't get any shots of the final steps and presentation- sorry! But I have leftovers for tonight and I will see if they look photogenic.

Peanut Butter Sandwich

Not your Thursday night cookout pbj!

I was going to use almond butter on this, but I seem to have misplaced it....

so I used the pnut butter I got in Cookieville.

Just went to WF's this am after yoga and bought some cherries-

they are so good (and so expensive)!

Also got the whole wheat english muffins and some golden beets- yum!!!

I plan to roast the beets with some other vegetables and serve with brown rice and tahini sauce for dinner tomorrow.

Do they have tahini in V'burg?

whole wheat english muffin, toasted

cherries, pitted & sliced

half a banana, sliced

chopped almonds

pnut butter

Construction is pretty straightforward!

Most any fruit is good, apples, peaches, berries, but the cherries are especially tasty!

Tie Dye

The tie dye is a tribute to your tireless efforts on behalf of the campers! and it looks like your dress.

Hummus Wrap for Lunch

I think you need to make sure they build a Whole Foods in Vicksburg this year so you have easy access to all the same stuff I do.

WF's red chile tortillas are my very favorite! I make wraps with them and bring them to work for lunch all the time (when I am working, that is...).

And my other most favorite thing that I always put on my wraps is Zocalo's Arbole Chile Salsa. I don't think you will be able to get that in MS. They have a restaurant here in midtown (which I have yet to visit) and sell their salsas at the local farmers markets, including the one where I just sold that painting for so much money.

zocalosalsas.com

Maybe I will freeze some and mail it to you.

In the meantime, you will have to be creative.

one red chile tortilla

WF's garlic hummus

1/4 my homegrown cucumber

1/2 yellow tomato

one green onion

4 spicy olives- sliced

a few chopped roasted (no salt) cashews

Zocalo's Arbole Chile Salsa

Spread some hummus on the tortilla and then layer the rest of the stuff on top and roll it up!

I put the tomatoes there for some color- should have used red instead of yellow...

I am out of lettuce so this one was kind of messy and not too portable. Usually I wrap them up in wax paper first then foil, but since I am home I just ate it!

Cashew Cheescake

Yesterday, my yoga teacher was raving about vegan cheesecake made with cashews- sin leche! From what she said, it definitely sounds worth trying- very nutty... like you!

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10668

Pasta with Plum Sauce

Yesterday I was half listening to a program on the radio and they mentioned plums and walnuts together and what a great combo that was. Since I had both, I decided to do something with them for dinner. First thought was salad, but as the day wore on decided to be more inventive. Since Norris was OOT and Abelle is at camp, I didn't have to worry about anyone liking it except me!

Collected some items from the fridge, cupboard and garden....

three small plums

a handful of walnuts

a green onion

a half a tomato

a half an avocado

some lime

and a bit of pasta

Sliced, diced and chopped as needed.

Put some water on for the pasta and sauteed the onion and walnuts in olive oil for a few minutes.

Added the plums and tomatoes and let it cook down a bit. The plums basically became sauce and left their tart skins in the mix.

Tossed the cooked pasta with the plum sauce and chopped avocado and gave it a squeeze of lime. Plated it and topped it with tabasco- and voila!

Very delish! But would your boys eat it...?
Not so sure!

(This serves one, since it was only me. My pasta was a mix of spinach ziti and whole wheat rotini- some other would be prettier, I'm sure)